AR Associate

Ciena is committed to our people-first philosophy. Our teams enjoy a culture focused on prioritizing a personalized and flexible work environment that empowers an individual’s passions, growth, wellbeing and belonging. We’re a technology company that leads with our humanity—driving our business priorities alongside meaningful social, community, and societal impact.
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Why Ciena:

· We are big proponents of life-work integration and provide the flexibility and tools to make it a reality with remote work and potentially, part-time work.

· We believe an inclusive, diverse and barrier-free work environment makes for empowered and committed employees.

· We recognize the importance of well-being and offer programs and benefits to support and sustain the mental and physical health of our employees and their families and also offer a variety of paid family leave programs.

· We are committed to employee development, offering tuition reimbursement and a variety of in-house learning and mentorship opportunities.

· We know that financial security is important.  We offer competitive salaries and incentive programs, RSU’s (job level specific) and an employee share option purchase program.

· We realize time away to recharge is non-negotiable.  We offer flexible paid time off!

· Great work deserves recognition. We have a robust recognition program, with ongoing and enhanced awards for exemplary performance.

How You Will Contribute:

  The Accounts Receivable Billing Specialist will be responsible for a wide range of duties, including billing, invoicing, and customer support. The Accounts Receivable Billing Specialist will work across functions to ensure proper recording and processing for their billing sector.  The Accounts Receivable Specialist will have knowledge of local billing requirements and work as a liaison with the applicable local Accounting firm to insure the accuracy of the customer invoice. This position requires heavy invoicing to shipment reconciliations and high regard for accuracy.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Daily invoicing to customers based on customer purchase orders, shipping reports, receivable reports and contracts.
• Exposure to complex billing structures a must
• Daily communication with various departments internally as well as externally as it relates to billing Review customer contract requirements as they relate to billing and payment terms and insure customer invoices meet all requirements as stated in the contract.
• Verifies validity of account discrepancies by obtaining and investigating information from sales, trade promotions, customer service departments, and from customers;
• Insure customer invoices meet any local government requirements by working closely with customer, sales team and /or local accounting firms.
• Ensure billing and invoicing are completed timely and deadlines are met
• Maintain highly accurate and complete Accounts Receivable records.
• Perform other relevant duties as requested by management
• Performs miscellaneous tasks and projects as assigned by Manager.
• Resolve escalated issues in the A/R department as priority
• Create documentation for new and or updated A/R processes and distribute throughout the team.
• Responsible for SOX compliances.
• Resolves collections by examining customer payment plans, payment history, credit line; coordinating contact with collections department.
• Summarizes receivables by maintaining invoice accounts; coordinating monthly transfer to accounts receivable account; verifying totals; preparing report.
• Protects organization's value by keeping information confidential.

What Does Ciena Expect of You?

· Initiative – You’re a self-starter who works with limited direction and is committed to delivering against aggressive deadlines.

· Agility – you are readily able to make key decisions and manage competing and ever-changing priorities.

· Communication expertise – you possess the ability to influence and tailor your message and ideas to the audience to ensure understanding and agreement.

· The flexibility to work independently and as part of a broader team – you thrive in a multi-disciplinary team environment, but are comfortable working independently as required.

· Relationship builder – with an ability to influence, you’re able to quickly develop trusted connections and get work done across multi sites.

· A commitment to innovation – you keep abreast of the market and competitive developments and are always keen to formulate new ideas and problem solve.

· A passion for coaching – fully understanding and appreciating the power of the mentorship role.

The Must Haves:

Comprehensive knowledge of:

• Previous experience in A/R Billing, Issue resolution and cash collection for US/Canada/EMEA/APAC/CALA Regions.
• Strong communication and Microsoft Excel skills.
• Accounting knowledge and experience in Oracle R12 & Excel is preferable

Proven skills in:

• Communication, both verbal and written
• Planning and organizing
• Decision Making
• Problem Solving

Demonstrated ability to:

• Be self-directed, have excellent initiative and organizational skills.
• Work in an environment that is fast paced and demanding.
• Handle multiple demands with a sense of urgency, drive and energy.
• Relate to all levels of the company.

Education / Experience

• BCOM, MCOM from reputed college.
• Minimum 5 to 7 years of relevant industry experience